The Palace said it is up to the Department of Energy to decide on the tie up between the Chinese State Grid Corporation (SGC) and the National Grid Corp. noting the energy department has enough basis to end the cooperation with the Chinese entity.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson asked the Philippines to treat the SGC fairly after the energy department announced the termination of cooperation between the SGC and the National Grid Corp.
Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla they plan to end the involvement Chinese State Grid Corporation in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines due to national security concerns.
“We’re quite certain that the Department of Energy has arrived at this particular conclusion after a thorough study of the advantages and disadvantages of it,” Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a radio interview on Saturday.
“We’ll leave it to Secretary Petilla to give more details on that, but we’re quite certain that decision is a product of a thorough study by the Department of Energy,” she told dzRB Radyo ng Bayan.
Asked to comment on on China’s statement that the Philippines made the decision because of the disagreements in the West Philippine Sea, Valte said the Philippines and China have multifaceted relations despite the territorial dispute.
Valte said that no matter what challenges the two countries are facing in one facet of the relationship, they always endeavor to develop the other facets of that relationship and try not to let it spillover into the other levels of cooperation.
The DOE said Wednesday it would end Chinese technical involvement in running the country’s power grid, partly due to national-security concerns.
Secretary Jericho Petilla 16 said all the Chinese technicians currently working for the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines will be sent home by July.
The SGC has a 40 percent stake in the Philippine firm, which operates and maintains the nation’s power grid.
The Philippine government filed an arbitration case in the international tribunal, asking it to clarify conflicting claims in the West Philippine Sea. PND (as) |